A South Korean man abducted by North Korea has escaped and returned home after 41 years, according to government officials and activists.

Jeon Wook-pyo (68) was one of 25 crewmen on board two boats captured by North Korea in the Yellow Sea in 1972, according to Choi Sung-yung of the Abductees' Family Union. Jeon, who fled North Korea in early August, is the only one of the crewmen to have escaped, Choi said.

Kim Hyung-suk, of South Korea's Unification Ministry, confirmed to reporters that the man had safely returned to the South but provided no other details.

South Korea estimates that more than 500 South Koreans have been kidnapped and detained by North Korea since the Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula still technically in a state of war.

Jeon underwent two weeks of investigation by government officials before being reunited with his family this month.